Is performance management wrecking company recruiting?

Does your organization have an empty role, and you cannot seem to get anyone to take the job? Are the few candidates that have responded to job posts not showing up for interviews? Have you gotten a few through the interview process, but they declined offers or ghosted you? Even worse are the ones that DO come on board one minute, only to tell you the next minute they have accepted a better offer. 

Several factors could be contributing to your frustrations. One could be the impact of a poor performance management system. 

It may seem odd to talk about performance management as part of the recruiting process. After all, you cannot manage candidate performance right now. That feels like putting the cart before the horse, right? Not necessarily.

Here are three ways a poor performance management system could be the problem:

Wrecking Ball 1: Keeping the Bad Ones… And Making Them Worse.

Dealing with performance issues is always a challenge. From routinely bringing down the morale of the company to productivity issues, things only get worse the longer they linger. That is going to send your good employees running for the door. All those empty seats will have to be filled, piling more onto your recruiter’s already daunting tasks.

Ideally, a manager will have already brought up the concerns to the problematic employee. If improvement has not been made quickly, then it is time to have a more formalized conversation that gets to a resolution within a reasonable time. We are talking days or weeks, not months or years. To protect the company and remain fair across the board to all employees, this process should be well documented. 

Wrecking Ball 2: It is Giving You a Bad Reputation.

When your employees feel slighted by a review, stuck in a dead-end career, or that their manager is unresponsive, they are going to talk about it, often online. That talk is searchable and high-quality candidates will find it! You may be one Google search away from losing out on the talent you want most. 

The people you hire want to know you are invested in their success. When they are successful and happy, they will stay with the company longer and be more motivated to care for customers. Leveraging Catalytic Coaching creates a future focused plan that benefits the employee and company. While bad news just seems to be juicier, good news will spread, too. Coaching will cultivate that good news. 

Wrecking Ball 3: It is Just Not Something People Are Willing to Endure.

Many folks hate how they have been treated by outdated systems, do not see value in them, and refuse to be battered anymore. Candidates have gotten savvy enough to ask about your performance management system during the interview process or will figure it out soon after accepting a job offer.

Ditch those tainted old reviews for something that is more employee centric. Not only can coaching help you keep your people, but it will also attract high-quality candidates. It sends a clear message that you do not just see them as another butt in a seat. You see a whole person valued for talent and potential.

Talented candidates will notice when you are taking care of your employees and have a thriving company culture. Give yourself the advantage in the job market by leveraging coaching for your performance management. 

Jessica Bowers is a certified Coach2 for Catalytic Coaching Inc, which is a business partner of Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is The Washington Post’s survey partner for Top Workplaces.